Boiling point forum puts spotlight on personal stress

Forum Australia held another one of its renowned Canberra dinner and discussions on 6 May at Taj Agra, Dickson to a packed room to discuss ways of managing personal stress.

Titled “De-stressing the Boiling Point”, the forum was to bring together the Canberra community to hear from specialists in their fields.

Speakers at the forum included John Powers, a professor in the School of Culture, History & Language at the Australian National University. Professor Powers focused on his own personal experience of handling stress through the teachings of Buddhism.

Mary Pekin, CEO of Relationships Australia stressed the importance of relationships between family and friends as the means by which stress can be managed.

John Martin, a psychologist from western Sydney, pointed out the means by which excessive stress can be identified and then controlled so that it does not even reach the boiling point and if it does, how to bring it back down. John’s attendance at the forum was arranged by ACT Health.

Finally, Graham Ramsay of ACT Health listed the avenues and services available to the public to help manage occupational, financial and emotional stress in the ACT.

Elliot Dunn, a producer at ABC 666, was the MC of the evening and ensured the analogy of the boiling point (and his own cooking skills) remained relevant.

Forum Australia is in its 10th year of operation and is proudly supported by the ACT Office of Multicultural Affairs.

For further information about this and other forums, including photos and videos, visit www.aussieforum.org. All videos of the speeches and discussions of the night can be accessed by scanning the QR code below.

The next Forum Australia dinner is planned for Wednesday 29 July 2015 and will focus on intergenerational issues.

Manarul Islam is an IT professional and AMUST correspondent based in Canberra.